Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



H. BERDAN.

Breech Loader.

Patented Dec- 22, 1868..

a rmen STATES PATENT @rricE.

HIRAM BERDAN, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE BERDAN FIRE ARMS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 85 ,H62, dated December 22, 1868.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM BERDAN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a central longitudinal vertical section of the breech parts of a breech-loading fire-arm with these improvements. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section in the plane indicated by the line no a" in Figs. 1 and 2, and showing parts in rear of such plane. Fig. 4 is a transverse section, showing the port-ion of the breech in front of the same plane. Fig. 5 is a transversesection in the plane indicated by the line y y of Figs. 1 and 2, showing parts of said plane. Fig. 6 is a side view of some of the details, which will be hereinafter explained.

This invention relates to breech-loadingfirearms in which the movable breech-piece is composed of a sliding bolt, and which opens and closes by a movement in the line of the barrel.

The first part of the invention relates, particularly, to breech-pieces of that class which have the cartridge-shell extractor working within a shield on the exterior of the breechpieee; and it consists in an extension of the said shield forward beyond the face of the breech-piece, whereby the said shield is made to serve as a stop to the breech-piece while the latter is pushed forward when there is no cartridge in the gun, and whereby, also, an important advantage is obtained in the applica tion of the extractor, as will be hereinafter explained.

Another feature of the invention consists in the attachment to a firing-pin, which works through such a breech-piece, as is hereinabove mentioned, of a tailpiece, which serves the purposes of assisting to guide the breech-piece in its movements. of receiving the blow'of the hammer by which the firing-pin is made to produce the ignition of the cartridge, and of closing the back 'portion of the breech-re- ;ceiver, which is unoccupied by the breechpiece when the latter .is pushed forward.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, previously remarking that, although the drawings represent the improvements ap plied to an altered muzzle-loader in which the breechreceiver is formed in the old barrel, they are applicable to the construction of new arms with the breech-receiver made of a separate piece from the barrel.

A is the barrel, in which the ordinary breechpin, B, is retained, and which has the rear part, which constitutes the breech-receiver, mortised longitudinally in its upper side, as shown at a a, for the reception and longitudinal working of the fin or projection O, which is provided on the sliding bolt breech-piece, for the purpose of locking the latter by turning it on its axis. On the right side of the barrel a recess, 1) 0, is cut in a downward direction from the mortise a a, for the reception of the fin or projection O, which is turned into the said recess to lock the breech-piece when closed.

The sliding bolt breech-piece O is made, ex: cept at its front end, somewhat smaller than the forward portion of the bore of the barrel or breech-receiver, to prevent it from becoming clogged with dirt. Its front end, which may be composed of a hardened-steel plug, D, fits snugly but easily into the barrel or breechreeeiver. It is bored centrally throughout for the reception of the firing-pin E, which passes through it, and its rear end is counterbored for the entrance of the head F of the said pin, which is made of aform to fit snugly but easily within the bore of the barrel or breech-rcceiver, and with a fin, F, to fit the mortiseaa.

The fin or projection C on the breech-piece is bored longitudinally, for the reception of the cartridge'sh ell extractor G, to which it serves as a shield. As this extractor forms no part of the present invention, but is intended to constitute part of the subject-1natter of a separate patent for which I have made application, it needs no more description here than is' necessary to enable the improvement in the Shield 0, which is a part of this invention, to be understood. It will be, therefore, sufficient to say of this extractor, which is shown fully in Fig. 1, that it has ahook, e, at its front end,

aspring, f, at its rear end, an inclined surface, at its-front end, and'is fitted so that it is capable of moving longitudinally within the shield, and so that its front end is capable of rising and falling, to enable the hook to pass over the head of the cartridge-shells in the chamber of the gun, the latter movement being controlled by the movement of the inclined surface 9 against the point of a screw or pin, 72 which is inserted through the outer portion of and projects into the interior of the shield 0.

It may be seen by reference to the part marked B in Figs. 1 and 2 that the shield O is extended some distance in front of the face of the breech, and that by coming in contact with the portion of the barrel or breech-receiver which forms the front end of the morrise a a and the front side of the recess 12 c the extended part will form a stop to the breech-piece in its forward movement when there is no cartridge or cartridge-shell in the barrel.- The said projection also allows the screw or pin 71., against which the inclined sur- 7 face 9 of the extractor works, to be brought farther forward than if there were no such projection, and hence allows the inclined surface 9 to be brought nearer the hook of the extractor, and so allows the front portion of the extractor to be made so much stiffer that its perfect operation is better insured.

The head F of the firing-pin E, which is secured to the neck of the said pin by means of a screw, 1', screwing through the said head and entering a groove,j, in the neck, has made in the same piece with, or otherwise firmly attached to it, a tai1-piece,F which covers the mortise a a in the breeclrreceiver, or at least so much of the said mortise as is unoccupied in rear of the breech-piece and firing-pin, and thereby serves to exclude dirt and moisture therefrom. The

.said tail-piece moves backward and forward with the breech-piece, though not turning with the latter, being connected thereto by means of the spiral spring 1, which is coiled around the said pin within the breech-piece; and as the head F, which forms a portion of it, fits -within the breech-receiver, it also serves to assist in guiding the breech-piece. The said tail piece is so formed with an offset, 70, near its rear end that, when the breech is closed, the said offset may be struck by a hammer oecupying the position on the side of the stock common to the hammers of muzzle-loading firearms, and hence the said tail-piece forms the means of transmitting the blow of the hammer to the firing-pin for firing the charge. The tail-piece may be otherwise so formed as to provide for its being struck by a hammer in any other position.

I will here remark that the head F of the firing-pin is shown in Fig. l stopped by a pin, m, inserted into the breech-piece, the fin or projection'O being in that figure represented as turned upward out of the recess 12 0 in the breech-receiver; but when the said finis turned into the said recess, the said pin is opposite to a notch, a, (shown in Fig. (5,) in the front of the head F, and hence the pin is permitted to move forward.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The extension of the extractor-shield or projection C on the breech-piece forward beyond the face of the breech-piece, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The tail-piece F constructed to assist in guiding the breech-piece, and to serve as a means of transmitting the blow of the hammer to the firing-pin. substantially as herein described.

H. BERDAN.

Vitnesses:

A. LE CLERC, A. KINNIER. 

